If the entrepreneur life intrigues you or if you’ve ever wanted to start your own business but didn’t know how, you’re going to love this…

One of the podcasts I listen to on a fairly regular basis is by 48 Days to the Work You Love and No More Mondays author, Dan Miller. Dan lives right here in Middle Tennessee and has become nationally known for helping people following their passions to find a career they love (Following your passions is one of the major themes of the Life Barometer program). I had a chance to have lunch with him a few months ago and was very impressed with not only his knowledge but what he has done in his own business. Today, while I was on my morning run, I listened to his podcast from June 11th entitled, “No Money, No Problem.” It’s all about removing the barriers to starting a business. It’s full of examples and stories of success that can help you with ideas of how to do this on your own. It also has a few interesting facts including:

If you’re not very good at compromising, you’re missing out on opportunities to strengthen relationships and to make your world better than it is today. Compromise can better your relationships because it shows others that you consider their side important. It assures them you take their feelings seriously. In business, if you’ve ever closed a big money deal, you know the importance of the “give and take” in negotiations. Most deals wouldn’t be done without some compromise from both sides.

Compromise is generally a good and productive thing. However, there are things you shouldn’t compromise. Hold fast to your morals and principles. Don’t compromise your core values. Your values determine your daily actions and how you conduct your life. Don’t change who you are to satisfy someone else if you have to lower your morals to do so. No deal is worth that. The goal in compromise is to create a win-win situation. Everyone should get something of value out of the deal. But how can you get value by compromising your core values? Are you currently in a situation like this?

It’s easy to fall into a daily routine that we don’t particularly like. We end up doing the same thing over and over, day after day. We get up after not getting enough sleep, hurry ourselves and our kids while getting ready for work and school, run out the door to a job which we may or may not enjoy all that much, get through a mundane work day, sit in traffic on the way back home, walk in the door exhausted from our crazy day, make and eat a dinner that probably could be more healthful, turn on the t.v. and watch a show we hope will take our minds off of real life for an hour, go back to bed a bit later than we should only to get up and do it all over again the next day. Weekends seem like mini vacations compared to our hectic weeks. We live for Saturdays and dread Mondays. Are you familiar with this?

We THINK that this is the way it HAS to be. It was the way we grew up. It’s the way all of our friends do it. It’s the way everyone with whom we work does it. But, that’s not true. If you’re not happy with your routine, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can change it. It can be different. It can be better. But, it takes effort. It takes effort to analyze your day to discover what you can cut out to make more quality time with your family. It takes effort to look at how you can use your time at work more effectively so that you’re able to actually get your work done and leave the office on time. It takes effort to get to bed a little earlier so that you get more sleep and feel better the next day. It takes effort to talk to your kids about what’s going on in their lives. It takes effort to find quiet time to renew your mind, listen to your thoughts and pray. It takes effort to tune out the noise and find true voices of value that add to your life experience. After you expend a little effort to begin doing these things, you gain momentum and change comes more naturally. It gets easier. The hardest part about starting something new is just starting. Once you’ve spent a few days trying new things, finding a routine that you like better, examining your life to find what brings you true joy, it becomes something you’ll want to do. It’s a great feeling to experience change for the better. It’s great realizing that life can be different from the same old routine. People are changing every day. They’re finding a new path that takes them where they want to go. I’ve seen it. I’ve done it. It’s fun. And a great way to start your life change is to simply ask this question: What makes a good day for me? Once you answer that, your goal should be to do what you can each day to make that happen. A little effort, a change here and there, some thought, some planning, some action and before you know it, you’ve created a life in which your good days happen more and more. You CAN do it. Just give it a try…